Culture Shock II

So today, I went with Tessa and Nick, who live in my home stay with me, and have been here for three weeks now, to the United States Independence Day Celebration that was held at a compound in Kathmandu which is owned by the USA. We went in hesitantly and expecting it to be utterly ridiculous. Especially after the very serious email invitation that had a strict RSVP by June 26th rule, and encouraged everyone to arrive promptly, (how very American... especially in Nepal.) On top of that US citizens only, plus Nepalis who work for some specific place, and their immediate family, passports required for entry.

I have to start with, I think all three of us faced culture shock II. Culture shock is what you know, culture shock II is the much more fascinating, and for me depressing, version of culture shock that you usually experience upon going home after a long trip. Re-adjusting to a culture that is in so many ways your own is much more difficult than having the excuse of "this place is new for me" that you get to use when experiencing typical culture shock.

Here is a descent link which can probably explain it better. http://kultureshock.wikispaces.com/DEFINING+CULTURE+SHOCK

So we went in prepared for it to be darn hysterical. And it was. We went through security and had to show our passports multiple times. It was funny. It really was. All of it was humorous. I mean just the idea that US citizens all in Nepal were invited pretty much to a big barbecue, it really is a funny concept. However within the first two minutes... we all just got pretty quiet. Why is this happening? Why does this place exist? I even mentioned as we stopped and stared at first that it really felt like a twilight zone to which both Tessa and Nick eagerly agreed. Were we in America? Were we in Nepal? There were mountains in the background, but red white and blue balloons and flags and tents serving beef burgers (Nepalis don't consume beef since Hinduism is a primary religion here). There was a blow up bouncy slide, and a dunk tank and a cotton candy stand. There was a watermelon eating contest and loud speakers blaring "Born in the USA". It felt like home. Which was nice. I love home. Don't get me wrong on that fact. But it just felt so wrong. SO wrong. There were Marines in uniform with their families in red and blue sundresses. Women wore tank tops and khaki shorts. Even typing this right now I'm just so confused by that. Like, we were still in Nepal. But really where were we?

I had a barbecue veggie burger, which was delicious beyond belief, and french fries with ketchup. We were really happy with our food. But we just sat there and stared. It was really hard not to.

It was this in between world of white people in clothes from home and Nepali women in saaris eating cotton candy. It was Marines with their blonde wives and blonde daughters in their little kid tank tops, sitting around a table under a tent eating hot dogs and drinking beer. But the air smelled like Kathmandu and just beyond the big walls of the compound were women leaned up against those same walls begging for food for their children, crouched over with more wrinkles than you could ever count. If I've ever been thrown into a really strange situation it was definitely today at the 4th of July, Independence Day Celebration held on June 28th in the middle of Kathmandu, Nepal.

Can you just tell how scattered this post is? I promised to blog but quite honestly its hard when the whole thing completely felt like a dream.

Okay, so to save you the time, since I know most of you are busy North Americans who value productivity; we walked out of the gate and back into the crazy city of Kathmandu and we all pretty much took a deep breath. Like it honestly felt good to be back. It was a sense of a relief to be removed from the culture shock. I'm not even kidding. We were happy to have left. The streets of Kathmandu felt so much more "right" to my system. I was more than happy to walk around Thamel through the muddy sidewalks with power cords hanging over my head.

I'm not sure I'm even ready to make this blog post about comparing the two cultures, or pointing out the faults in each system. I can't even make any educated statement quite honestly. What I can say is, if I got culture shock II today, I'm really in for it during my seven hour lay over in Philadelphia before reaching Detroit six weeks from now...

Patan Museum and beyond!

Today I went to the Patan Museum with one of my housemates Tessa. I learned so much about Hinduism and Buddhism and saw some really amazing and super old stuff, like really old, really beautiful stuff. We had a great lunch in the gardens of the museum which were beyond beautiful, and actually quiet.

We got home and cleaned a bit, since, well... it really needed to be done. We then headed down to Thamel for some shopping. Monsoon season started quite literally on our walk there. So we stopped in Himalayan Java to try to escape. We then realized it was unavoidable and pretty much swam through the streets of Thamel to do a little shopping. We took a taxi home, ate dinner, changed into dry clothes and crashed.

We have plans to head out to Swayambanath Stupa for this thing that happens everyday at 6 am and 6 pm. I can't remember the name of what it is called but it is pretty much just a giant circling of the stupa.

Thennnnn, tomorrow we, (me, Tessa, and Nick) two of my housemates, who are US citizens, have the United States Independence Day Celebration. Don't worry. An entire blog post devoteddddd to this event will be written and posted as soon as possible. In short- many a joke have already been prepared and we have been nearly counting down the days to go hang out with a bunch of Americans and celebrate the 4th of July on June 28th. Oh man. It is going to be good. Entertainment at its prime. Anyway you can look forward to that, while I sleep! Suva Ratri!

How I Came to Love the Kathmandu Bus System

Okay so, I know I used to hate it. Trust me, I've been taken to all the wrong places in the darkness of night thanks to these same busses. Kirtipur instead of Kantipur, I'll never get over that, (for those of you haven't looked that up, its the further than the distance from Novi the Southfield, for those of you who don't know Novi or Southfield, wow that really sucks that you aren't from the lovely state of Michigan, I guess you'll have to do some Googling). 

Anywho- Yesterday I took a bus to work, as soon as a seat freed up- get this- a man, who was closer, offered it to me. When I go to work I have to carry my camera, all of its pieces and spare pieces including other lenses, my laptop, hard drive, card reader, on top of waterproof bags for it all, a wallet, a raincoat, a water bottle... it weighs a lot okay? So getting a seat on a bus is prime, especially when a foreigner is trying to protect her zippers from pick pocketers and trying to hold onto the bar on the ceiling that is nearly too high to reach. I was so shocked at this chivalry that I'd yet to experience in Nepal. I sat there so happily my whole way to work.

Today I took a bus to work and slowly got pushed to the back as it became packed during rush hour. Struggling to stand two girls motioned to me to sit next to them, (I was the sixth person to squeeze into the back row, yes the sixth, backpack and all). They were so kind to me, and spoke english very well I might add. They were wonderful and talked to me for a while.

Then once they'd gotten off, the guy on the bus who takes the money and yells where the bus is going was trying to direct me on where to stand in Nepali, I didn't understand. Let me explain something quickly. They try to get you on and off as fast as they can so they yell the upcoming stop name so you can send your money up to him before you get off. I wasn't sure if that was why he was looking at me or not and rambling in Nepali so, when he was trying to tell me where to stand I said the name of the stop I wanted to get off at. Though this made me look like quite the stupid foreigner it ended up working out quite well for me. Now I never listen when they yell the names of stops because quite frankly I have no clue what they're saying, so I usually just hand them my money as I'm getting off. However, since today the entire bus knew I was getting off at Ten Cuni, when he yelled it in advance to get everyones' money, a guy tapped me on the shoulder and asked "Ten Cuni?" and I said "Yes." he then pointed to the guy asking for my money and I got off perfectly at my stop with ease!

Getting a bus home- waiting for a bus, a man tried to befriend me and was quite impressed to hear I was working with the paper, then he really tried to befriend me and hand me a massive packet about some university. I had already told him where I lived and so I kept trying to ask the golden busses to see if it was going where I needed to go while he was attempting to befriend me, then finally he saw a bus coming and looked at me and told me it was my bus- how? you ask- he can read Nepali! The magic of a kind Nepali, I asked anyway to make sure and jumped on! Shortly after a seat freed up and a women gestured specifically to me to sit next to her. Which was also kind. Then as the bus packkkked itself, and I a small, caucasian, female sat near the "aisle" Nepali men began to nearly fight to stand near me. This was highly inappropriately charged, and I'll spare you the details. However, my lovely friend next to me, a woman might I add, at first scooted herself as far out the window as she could to make more room for me and kept gesturing for me to scoot as far close to her as I could. You cannot possibly imagine how grateful I was to shove my body against hers as opposed to well, ya know, the alternative. Eventually she worked her way up to yelling at the men for me. I don't speak Nepali but I have a few guesses of what she said based on a few people's reactions. Then near the end of this particular ride, she even reached her arm across me and began to shove at a man whilst yelling at him in Nepali. At that point I really, really loved this woman. It is the shenanigans I deal with everyday here, but I usually don't have a female body guard. I was too close to look at her while I was sitting next to her, but as I put my back pack back on my back to stand up I turned and looked at her and thanked her from the bottom of my heart, or at least I tried to have my eyes say so. She said "welcome" and smiled; it was extremely genuine.

So with that, my faith has been restored in the humanity of Nepalis. At least somewhat.

Nepali Yogurt

Today I tried Nepali yogurt. Let me take you on a ride with your imagination to help you grasp what I willingly put in my body today.

Take a clear thin plastic cup.
Got it?

Now pour some milk into it.

Step away from the cup... in fact... let it sit say I don't know a week or two weeks or so.

Come back to your cup. Do you have curdled milk? Un-refridgerated curdled milk? Yes, yes you do. A big white clump in the middle surrounded by clear liquid.

Now take a spoon, put some of your concoction on your spoon. Now slowly and hesitantly put it up to your mouth, open your lips and swallow.

Yep. Nepali Yogurt.

In all fairness it didn't taste bad at all, a little sweet sort of. It was just that looking at it and thinking about the journey it'd been on since the cow... well it was hard to swallow. I even mentioned to Ram that I felt like Andrew Zimmerman, he had no idea what I was talking about, as per usual.

The Mother of All Blog Posts

Okay so. Since my last lengthy blog post I've faded out of my ignorant bliss of Nepal and hit a point of getting really, really angry. The thing is you arrive in a new country and it is like culture shock blinds you. All you can see is the difference and it leaves you in awe. You are so happy to finally be experiencing the culture shock you've always dreamed of that you immediately decide how much you love it wherever you are. Then you adjust. You take a few micro busses and motor bike rides. You pay a guy on a street corner to fix your helmet strap. You want to vomit eating dhal bhat so you just eat plain white rice. You get ripped off by taxi drivers. You try the coke and realize it tastes different, but still good. You try a lychee for the first time and fall in love. You see beautiful children whose beauty is so under appreciated. You do your laundry in a bucket of dirty water. You get sick from swallowing one single bad ice cube. You try yak cheese in momos and you try local made rice wine called raksi. You get taken to Kirtipur when you clearly said Kantipur. You plant rice in a rice paddy, and you answer "hello" back to all the school children who are always so eager to practice their english with the white people they see on the streets. You get blisters and break your shoes. You get bruises and huge spider bites. I've made amazing friends and had some wonderful laughs. And with all of this amazing different shocking wonderful stuff going on, at first you are really blinded to what is really happening around you.

And then- and then you start to see it all. The slavery that is smack in front of your face every single day. The pollution. The lack of equality in ethnicity and gender. The general treatment and expectations of women. Did I mention the slavery? And when you see it, you get really, really, realllllly angry. Like long rants to multiple people and some tears kind of angry. And you start to question whether any of the work of all of the organizations out there that we see and hand money to every single day in the western world will ever have any effect on a culture that has no problem saying in 2014 "women need to work in the kitchen all day," nearly literally.

So I said it before that everyone here is so happy, and yes this is true, it is. Really Nepalis are very happy people. However, as I came out of my culture shock fog last week I realized that there is a very thin line between happiness and complacency. Happiness is great, wonderful even, and it is a very strong characteristic to have in a culture, accepting that life isn't about brand names or material goods at all is phenomenal. Recognizing that having enough to eat means being lucky, is a grateful culture. But there are people who are in dire situations who do nothing about it and no one in the wealthy situations is trying to help. Yes of course this is true everywhere in the world but please hear me out. There is no, "make your own luck" attitude, there is no "if you work hard enough you can achieve anything you set your mind to" though process. There is slavery. "Okay. So what. Nothing we can do about it. That is just our culture. You have to look at our history and where we are coming from as a society." That is the mood I'm getting at least. So when I see a painted wall that says "Stand up for women's rights" or talk to the people at Maiti Nepal of course I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled there is awareness. I'm thrilled that people voice that there are issues. But- culturally I don't know these people to be "go getters", so is anyone turning awareness into action? And okay say they are, I know the pace of this country, and for the rate of slavery that exists here, someone needs to pick up that pace, and I really question whether or not it can be a group of Nepalis.

A Nepali I know here has told me about a time that, under professional circumstances, he was talking with prostitutes working at a brothel in India. He tells me they would sit and play cards together and then be called for a customer and they would just get up and go, they told him something along the lines of "its the job". His interpretation of this as a Nepali is that some people can be happy in these odd jobs that we don't respect, some people choose this. He deducts that it is her decision to work in a brothel simply because she can be happy enough to play cards in her free time. I deduct this as slavery. Slavery in its most pure form. That woman has been coerced, and threatened to be there, most likely with physical violence. Her ability to play cards plays nothing to her choice to be there or her happiness but rather her internal will to survive. That woman is fighting for her life and she has, after most likely years of abuse and unimaginable circumstances, learned how to best get through each day as she has accepted there are no other choices for her.

The slavery and the lack of respect for women is particularly hard for me to see so first hand.

*cue ending rant*

Amongst my frustrations I've realized that anger is no way to solve anything. I think anger can act as a motivator for me, but nothing more. And in that decision I've worked over the past few days to look again at the beauty of this place, and in trying to understand what brings this place together and what makes it all work, maybe it will help me solve all of the issues.

So on Saturday, the one day off here, I took the day off. Hannah, who was my sort of roommate was leaving soon so we decided to live it up and go to a three hour class on the basics of Buddhism taught by Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche at a yoga studio in Thamel. His speaking was translated and pretty vague, for someone who has studied a bit about Buddhism in the past. However, there was time for questions and his answers were at times decently profound. Everything he spoke about seemed like it should be common sense, but we all know that it isn't quite reality and we should strive for it to be. Anywho some of his answers were also quite funny such as when someone asked the difference between Tibetan Buddhism and mainstream Buddhism and he said that monks in places like Thailand and Burma get to wear thinner robes, and he is likes their robes, he wishes they had them here in Nepal. No joke. We ended class by meditating with him and it felt like a true honor to meditate in the same room as someone as well practiced in the art of meditation as him. We were all so glad we'd went by the end, even if just for the experience and to say we had gone.

We then did some shopping in Thamel which is always fun, and I discovered singing bowls and I'm so obsessed. My friend Hannah went to an awesome place in Bhaktapur that uses singing bowls as a method for therapy which she told us about and it sounds like the coolest thing ever. So, I'm hoping that I'll be able to go to the same place she'd gone to possibly buy myself one before I head home.

This morning, Hannah, Tessa, and I all headed out before breakfast to go to a yoga class at the same studio in Thamel we had been at the day before. The class was amazing, quick paced but manageable. This was the first time I've been able to do yoga and get through a class, since I injured my knee last November. I couldn't help but want to call my physical therapist the whole time I was in class. It felt so amazing to be back. We focused on our core chakra with stomach issues and releasing our anger from this part of our body. It was amazing. And the meditation at the end, was seriously the best meditation of my entire life. It was wonderfully instructed and extremely well worth it.

The rest of the day was spent out shooting with Ram. I won't go for the typical photographer's joke here but- I was fortunate enough to photograph many important political figures of Nepal today including the vice president and president of Nepal himself. It actually was pretty awesome.

So- Nepal has living goddesses, it is a pretty interesting concept. You'll have to do some research because I don't know much about them myself however, today I photographed the Kumari of Patan I believe who sat a total of maybe five feet from where I was crammed in the press pit. It was pretty interesting. Not to demean their goddess but, she is just a little kid, and it was quite hysterical for me to watch her fidget and nearly whine out of boredom and discomfort during this ceremony/festival thing. I have photos of the whole thing but I didn't much understand the significance of a man holding up a small black vest. Everyone cheered as if he were holding Prince George up into the air though, so hey, I went with it. After the chariot of something similiar to a Rain God, which leaves the Bungamati Temple for six months out of the year, is returned and the people celebrate by burning massive clumps of straw. It is extremely smokey so much so that you can't breathe and your eyes burn. It is very interesting. It was fun though for a "festival" to finally actually mean something.

I came home to Hannah shortly after leaving to head back to Canada. I'm going to miss her so much!

And now I'm exhausted soooo, on to another day of adventures tomorrow! Something about a vote something or other is happening tomorrow so we will see how that goes!

Namaste!

Saturday

I had an amazing day. It started with being published, and ended with my realizing I didn't take a single photograph all day for the first day since I've been here. I finally had like a true day off and it was wonderful. Wonderful. Ahhh so great. It deserves a really good blog post though. Hang in there for my stories please! I'm in love with Nepal all over again, and I'm so happy about it. I didn't eat any dhal bhat today and I had an amazing day with amazing friends! I have to save my stories for another longer post which will hopefully encapsulate all of my anger, frustrations, love, and great experiences of the last week pretty much. Sorry again but I'm waring myself so thin everyday trying to soak it all up!

check out my name!
http://epaper.ekantipur.com/kantipur/epaperhome.aspx?issue=2162014

Allergies and Apologies

I've been plagued with some of the worst allergies of my life for the past three weeks. Today I got some medicine from a pharmacy... it costed $1.97... So yes I'm not completely expecting it to work or do exactly what I need. Any who, I'm really wiped out from dealing with them, I'm going to pass out soon here. I will hopefully be posting in the next few days though! Sorry for the lack of adventure stories. With that comes a lot of frustration on my end as I slowly start to recognize some faults in the society here, not to say that different is bad or wrong in anyway. There are so many things going on in my mind lately as I struggle to come to terms with Nepali culture, a dhal bhat diet, a zillion mosquito bites and some serious allergies. Keep looking for new posts though! Hopefully a decent story will come about worth telling in the next few days. Namaste.


oh and here. yet again, I promise it is mine. don't I seem thrilled?
http://www.ekantipur.com/photo-gallery/2014-06-20/1956/21814

21+

I'm seeking advice from anyone who has ever had 21+ mosquito bites on one foot at a time. By this I mean I am not seeking advice, it just really sucks and I'm choosing to publicly complain about it. Yes, 21+. Yes I woke up from the itchiness; if only I'd woken up from the mosquito actually biting me...

Yet, again,...

http://www.ekantipur.com/photo-gallery/2014-06-18/1954/21800

I remain nameless... the trend has begun with photos of important people...

Looks like I have some talking to do with my boss...

Not so happy, still, I promise- this is my photograph.

668.00 Nepalese Rupees

Are you in fact aware that, all for the very low rate of 668 Nepalese Rupees you can have:

• 4 rolls of toilet paper
• 16 small packs of tissues
• 1 bottle of coke
• 1 miniature packet of 5 Oreos
• 1 jar of off brand Nutella

that equates to = $6.92 USD

Sometimes living in Nepal has it's benefits.

Food I'm Craving:

It has officially been 19 days of dhal bhat, dhal bhat, and more dhal bhat. In celebration of surviving I have allowed myself to admit to myself that I've been accumulating a list of food I'm craving from home.

Food I'm craving:

(listed in the order in which I began to crave it)

1. Hot cheese pizza
2. A poached egg
3. Fake bacon
4. Peanut Butter
5. A donut, preferably with pink frosting and sprinkles
6. Fettuccine Alfredo
7. French Fries from Leo's Coney Island dipped in Ranch
8. Berries, (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries...)
9. BBQ sauce, just plain BBQ sauce
10. A peach
11. French Fries from Red Robin with the seasoning and ketchup
12. Starbucks Iced Caramel Macchiato
13. Popcorn
14. An apple
15. Spaghetti
16. A massive Michigan Cherry Salad
17. Dots
18. A boiled egg
19. Doritos

A Purple Water Bottle

This is so stupid but I think it generalizes Kathmandu for me, today I finally after 18 days bought a water bottle. We (Me, Hannah, and Tessa) went into Thamel this morning to pick up posters we had printed yesterday for our photo show on Thursday and to start hanging them. We had to stop in a "super market" to find some tape... and finallllly I had the chance to stop and buy a water bottle! No more re using plastic ones or buying them while I'm out! I finally am the delightful owner of a new Nalgene (made in the USA) purple water bottle. Water is like gold here and having a sturdy water bottle can make all the difference in the world. Little things like buying a reusable water bottle can take up to 18 days to get accomplished here, and so when you finally do it, it is cause for celebration!!!

And again!

Here is my photo that was published today! With my name!
http://epaper.ekantipur.com/epaper/kpost/page/16


Yesterday me and two housemates, Hannah and Tessa, visited Maiti Nepal which is an awesome organization here that works to combat Human Trafficking of women and children in the area. They have rehabilitation homes, transit homes, prevention homes and programs, they work with the law, they lead busts of brothels, that provide health and medical lessons and treatments, they do so much. Though I recently just heard of them I can tell you that their facility is run differently that most places here in Kathmandu. Be sure to look them up!

The day before yesterday I had my first visit to Monkey Temple, and it was beautiful. Tons of monkeys of course, and they are so so so cute.

Yesterday I ate some momos with Ram and had some milk tea as we waited for the rain to stop, after getting his flat tire fixed. I had emailed in some photos to the post earlier.

We are planning another show in Thamel for Thursday so we've been trying to spread the word about that and get posters made and hung, as well as photos together from all the photographers.

I'm also in my spare time trying to get certified properly for coaching figure skating to make sure I can bring my students to tests and competitions formally this season.

So to say the least I have a ton going on! Off to have another adventure filled day!

No Name

Well I've been told it is common to get published without a name here, and so it has happened to me too. I promise though- here is another photo of mine taken yesterday of Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize Winner on a visit to a museum just outside of Kathmandu.
http://www.ekantipur.com/photo-gallery/2014-06-15/1951/21781/

Could Yesterday Have Been Any Better?

Okay so, yesterday was another one of the best days of my life. For real. It was Saturday (the only day off in Nepal) and we had planned a trek,  a short one, but a trek none the less. Every intern living in the house, our host father, our host brother, and our program supervisor all went. We left the house around 10:30 am after a pancake for breakfast, which we get every Saturday morning, made by our lovely host mother.

We all had our back packs and best walking shoes and we took off towards the bus station. We squeezed onto a very crammed bus and rode until the city bus park just a ways down the road. There we met up with our program supervisor. We jumped on another bus and headed out of the valley to start our trek. We got off the bus and started walking. It was gorgeous views from the get go. We could barely get anywhere because we all kept stopping to take photos.

Beautiful old women, and kids who could reach the water spout filling up their bottles. Locals looking after their goats and cows, people bathing and doing laundry in rivers, could the day get any better? We saw farms and parks and before we headed down the road towards the small town we climbed a super steep path that led to no where but a gorgeous view. It was quite fun to climb and make it back down all while protecting the life of my camera. From there we set off down the path of a town. We saw an old man brush his teeth in the public water pump and some teens passing out pamphlets in Nepali on converting to Christianity. We saw and old woman sit outside and sort through seed as she watched her rooster. We stumbled on a mushroom farm and took some photos there. At one point I climbed this little dirt ledge cliff thing and full fledge leaned my body weight on my program supervisor and pressed the shutter of my camera held up in the air with my other hand. The things we do to get the shot.

We kept walking and saw workers on the side of the road using tools we see in museums back home. We then had to cross a bridge. I saw people swaying across. Swaying. The bridge was made out of metal and should not have been swaying, but was. I watched motorcycles cross it, and began to cross. I stopped to take photos while on the bridge as motorcycles passed me by. This bridge was narrow. Not wide. Not wide enough for people and motorcycles. As we reached the other side (praise to Shiva) little boys climbed the wires that held the bridge in place and slide down. As I shot photos they'd yell and flinch and begin to let themselves slide down the thick wires. My program supervisor told me they were pretending my camera was a gun and that they'd been shot and killed. The lives of the kids around here, I swear.

We kept walking and this little girl sitting next to her mother saw our cameras and started yelling "camera camera" "photo photo" and we would take a picture and then she'd yell "money money" as all the Nepali's do- she has learned fast. As we walked away her adorable young voice kept on "money money" "chocolate chocolate" "money money." We reached civilization again slowly but surely and stopped for lunch and the WindyHill Restaurant. I only remember that name because we were on a huge hill that had an amazing view and it was windy up there and it felt amazing. Amazing. I had Veggie Momos and Sprite. We sat around and looked through our photos that we had so far. Pretty decent compared to other days.

Here comes the high light of my day.

From lunch we walked down a massive hill to the rice paddy I shot at the other day. Walking there my program supervisor had turned around to run into a small shop to buy some chocolate, so my host dad was trying to lead but he had no idea where he was going. So he stopped when the path got twisty and turned around waiting for my program supervisor, I then butted in and said yep just follow that path around and down and he said "oh you know the way?" and in that moment I realized something- I realized that in the middle of nowhere Bungamati, Nepal, headed to a rice paddy- yes, I knew the way. So he took a step back and I led the whole way for the group. We crossed the same sheet of metal that acts as a bridge as last time and leaped over other puddles and streams and we got there, the same way as before. We walked up and I waited for my program coordinator since well ya know, I don't speak Nepali and the path only fits one person at a time. After a bit of Nepali and everyone else being so excited to be there our program coordinator said "okay now we take off our shoes and get in." We all looked at each other, quite hesitantly. Literally out loud we discussed, "okay is he kidding?" A kid even said "I can't tell if he's kidding, I'm waiting until he gets in to know if he's serious." He was. He offered the chocolates he'd just bought and they shared with us their local candy. It was hard and tasted a bit like caramel, I liked it though. Soon we all had our socks and shoes off as we slid down the hillside into the rice paddy. Passing the camera back and fourth as we got in so that it wouldn't catch a splash. Then the women started handing up handfuls of rice plant? Really though, what do you call the green stuff? I kept my camera in hand, knowing I couldn't miss the chance to shoot this. It was beyond beautiful and wayyy too good to be true. I shot as the others learned to press the root into the mud, pulling the small bundles apart piece by piece. It was hysterical to watch the women do it like nine times faster. Suddenly children started to toss mud. I could tell my program coordinator, behind me at the time, was yelling to the kids in Nepali "be careful of the camera!" Towards the end of the area I had to try myself so with a camera in one hand and some rice in another I too planted some rice.

We were then invited to try their homemade Raksi. Raksi means alcohol in Nepali but Raksi is also used for Nepali rice wine. There were two kinds. I knew this wasn't about to be good, but how often are you offered Raksi while at a rice paddy, well quite honestly probably every time you go to a rice paddy in Nepal. Rice paddies are infamous for their Raksi, and for drinking a lot of it. The first kind looks like dirt and sand mixed together with some water. It tasted that way too with just a touch of sour. The next was clear and watery with pieces of rice floating around. It tasted like rice water, sour rice water. After the tiniest sips possible I felt like, well I felt like I could forevermore say that I tried local Raksi in a rice paddy in Bungamati, Nepal. I also felt like that might be my last local Raksi ever tasted.

We then followed a path down to the local showers. Right at the foot of the paddies is a bunch of rocks, and out of a tube in some rocks some cold water spurts out. "You can wash your feet off there" and then we put our shoes on said our "dhanyabads'" and "namastes'" ("thank yous'" and "goodbyes'" and headed off back on a trail towards civilization. We walked along side a river were people bathed and fished. We saw pigs running free along with goats, chickens, buffalo, and cows. We walked pretty much through locals' backyards' and stumbled on a field where boys were playing soccer on pretty much a cliff. You could see tons of tiny buildings far off with nothing blocking the cliff but some goats and cows.

Background story: Last week I simply posed the question "What would happen if I tried to pet a cow? Is that rude? Do the locals touch the cows? Would it even react?" This quickly got changed by one of the interns, as a joke I might add, into me having a desire to spank a cow. A) I've never had a desire to spank a cow. B) That would probably be disrespectful in a place that believes cows to be holy. Well anyway, last week some time, walking home at night from Thamel with two other interns I slowly began to walk towards a cow, I'm really a scardy cat at heart and I wouldn't have actually touched the thing, but as I came closer, a long with another intern, the cow suddenly became quite enraged. He made eye contact with me that believe you me said "get away from me now or I will buck you so hard in the rear with my horn, watch me." Yes his eye contact said all of that. I wanted to run but I realized he'd just chase after me and so the rest of the way home the other interns kept yelling "Cow!" and I was just that afraid to flinch every time. Any who- In this soccer field there were buffalo, and I touched it. It was calm and let me but, I don't know man they are just some freaky looking animals. I then got a lecture from my program coordinator about how they have good hearts and mean well no matter what they look like and all I could think was how I was the last person that needed that lecture. Jokes then came about every time we passed an animal they were trying to say my name. My program coordinator, the funny guy he is, couldn't stop laughing the rest of the walk and he kept saying "Brianna" like a cow or a goat.

Then once in civilization again it began to rain. We were ready to hop on a bus at that point anyway but we didn't want to stand in the rain waiting for one. The perfect solution you ask? A Tuk-Tuk. Yes, a Tuk-Tuk, just like in 19 Kids and Counting (TLC show). I've been dying to take a Tuk-Tuk and even made an intern take my photo inside. It was amazing. Everything I could've imagined it to be. Crammed in the Tuk-Tuk, 13 people at once, the man on the end dropped his phone out the back, in the rain and traffic. To make a Tuk-Tuk stop you simply bang on the metal roof. He banged and jumped out grabbed his phone and made a running dash back to the Tuk-Tuk. I was dying laughing the whole time. Only in Nepal man, only in Nepal. From the Tuk-Tuk we got on a micro bus to head back to the big grocery store near our house which we then walked home from, luckily it'd stopped raining.

We got home to our host mother asking us if we wanted dinner. And what did we get?... NOT dhal bhat! Can you believe it?! She made noodles and they were delicious.

After dinner my roommate (sort of) and I did laundry together. My first time doing laundry here. In the pitch black dark might I add. How does one do laundry in Nepal you may ask? You take your clothes, put them in a bucket, add some soap, add some water, and you take those weird tools that exist on the ends of your forearms and you squeeze and you press and you scrub. You then let them soak for a bit, and you rinse and repeat. Then everything gets hung up on the clothes line to dry. Not sure if my clothes are dirtier or cleaner after that experience. Oh well.

I then took a shower, which felt amazing, and drifted off to sleep.

It was seriously an amazing day. I got home thinking oh my gosh I didn't go into the office today, I have so much to do tomorrow, etc. Then, I realized, I had been shooting all day, I filled 64 GB of memory cards. I'd worked all day. I love the places that photojournalism can take me. I love my career choice. I love story telling and I love the art of photography, and melding the two together to make everyones' story a piece of art? I know I'm in the right career path.

Here is the down side to taking so long to tell you my story of yesterday... I still have to catch up now and tell the story of today, yet again another great day here in Kathmandu, Nepal. But, for now I'll save those stories!

Namaste :)

An Awesome Day

Reasons why today was awesome:

1. I was published online for the first time http://www.ekantipur.com/photo-gallery/2014-06-11/1947/21750
2. I was published in The Kathmandu Post (on the second page might I add) http://epaper.ekantipur.com/epaper/kpost/page/2
3. I was published in The Kantipur Daily http://epaper.ekantipur.com/epaper/kdaily/page/19
4. I walked around the blue market with a friend and came up with an idea of a wonderful gift for myself, (still thinking about it though).
5. I took a bus from the bus park... AND ended up AT THE KATHMANDU POST!
6. I edited and submitted photos at the office, and said hi to three staff photographers and two security guards (who now recognize me and let me in without having the pass code).
7. I took a bus from Kantipur to Bhat Bhateni... AND ended up AT Bhat Bhateni!
8. I walked home with the biggest smile on my face everrrrrr.

Did I mention I was published in three places within 24 hours?

Did I mention I successfully took two, not one but two, busses by myself today?

Good days feel that much better when they follow some pretty crappy ones. 

All in all amazing day here in Kathmandu. I'm so grateful that Ohio University and Scripps Grant Foundation are helping me make this dream a reality. I'm learning so much.

YAHOOOOOO!!!

Well, it took almost two weeks but, I did it!

http://www.ekantipur.com/photo-gallery/2014-06-11/1947/21750

I have officially been published! I'm hoping much more are to come of course, and being printed in the Post would be awesome! For now, an online photo? Heck yes I'll take it!

Things work a lot differently here in Nepal, and getting myself adjusted to the culture and the way of life has taken a bit of time. Not that I'm any Nepali expert (I still got lost on 2 busses and 2 taxi's by myself today; life is rough when your American accent makes Kantipur sound like Kirtipur, someone please look up the distance difference, haha), however, I'm working now, people are starting to learn my name and offering to help show me around. I'm getting a hang on the computer system and I'm positive that once I can find my way around, (hopefully eventually by bus), nothing will be able to hold me back... accept maybe the language barrier.

Anywho- onward to bigger and better things! Today was a great step in the right direction!

So grateful for this opportunity, I'm learning so much.

The Bus

I could write so much more about today but...
remember how I was going to try the busses?
I tried the busses.

It failed so hard core.

Maybe I'll tell the story later.
For now I have to get up early for a shoot, so on that note...

Suva Ratri, good night.

Tomorrow

Lets all just wrap up my day by hoping that "the sun will come out tomorrow." Enough said? I think so.

It can only go up from here, right?

Thank you!

Well I've officially reached 800 page views. Thanks so much to all of you reading! It means a lot that you keep up with me while I'm away and don't have the means to communicate with everyone all the time! I hope you enjoy reading my posts and keep reading for the next nine weeks to come!

It scares me to think its just the beginning, (I'm not sure how much dhal bhat I can take), but I know by the end it will seem like it flew by so I'm trying to just make myself as comfortable as I can.

The first girl I met when I got here left this morning. It was kind of hard because she taught me so much about how to survive here. She gave me her phone for free and I moved into her old room right after she left this morning. The privacy is nice but it is going to take some time to adjust.

I'm drowning in bruises, bumps, spider bites, mosquito bites, blisters, heat rashes, and allergies. I've had no appetite since I've gotten here but I'm trying to eat and just keep drinking water. Ohhhh life in Nepal. Sure is different. Different can be really good though.

Today's mission is to get myself to the Kathmandu Post on my own by bus. Wish me luck!

So Yesterday...

So yesterday I went out with my one house mate who is leaving tomorrow so she could show me around a bit more and help be gain a better sense of where things are located in relation to others. First we took a taxi to where she has been working on her photo story for the past two months, a hospital. The hospital is one of the best in the country... I'm not even sure I have words to share with you the state of the place. To give you a little insight, the roof is rotted through so the hospital is completely open to the outside; and the small "cafeteria" that used to be inside? It got shut down by health inspectors. The restaurant inside the hospital wasn't healthy enough to stay running. Not only does that tell you how gross this place is and dusty and awful, it also tells you that health inspectors exist in Kathmandu, I marvel at that more than anything.

After we walked to the post office. OH MAN. Okay, let me help  you visualize this place. First, take yourself back to the year 1920. Imagine small filing cabinets and rickety wooden desks. Imagine the stamps they use on packages and envelopes. Now abandon the place. Dust collects, homeless come in and pee everywhere. Nothing is touched. Much of the furniture is looted and carried away leaving only a few pieces of that now extremely banged up furniture. Abandon it until the year 2014. Walk inside. Add a few Nepali people sipping tea out of small glasses in the corners of each room. Add bags that say "United States Post Office" and those from various countries in the world, add lots of dust on top of that. ---There you have it! The post office! Not to mention the people there don't speak english so when my housemate was trying to mail sand to her boyfriend back home... not only were they sketched out, the only phrase they could mutter as they ran their fingers across the bag was "just sand?" over and over and over. I mean if you're going to interrogate us at least be creative about it. It ended with a woman screaming at us in Nepali, I haven't met or seen a single angry Nepali until yesterday, but man I won't forget it. Any who. Woah it was an experience.

We went to the mall after, I bought lychee juice (my current obsession). We then walked through New Road, which is the nicest part of town I can now attest. Then to Freak Street where we sat for a bit and I had a coke.

From there we were in the Durbar Square area and it was here, walking to the bus stop that my next story starts. Walking with one of my housemates and one of her good Nepali friends. I had my backpack on and my camera around my neck. I am white. And in this crowded area a local tried to pick pocket me. By tried I mean he did not succeed. By tried I mean I caught him in the act. By tried I mean: I felt some extra weight on my back and without turning around I simply reached my hands behind me and felt to my front zipper pocket. It was open. I continued to feel around in attempts to close it; in reaching for the zipper I came across a man's hand, of which was holding a plastic baggie I had which held my caption notebook, 3 empty CF cards, a camera battery, a shoot itinerary, and a flash drive that held images I need. Still without looking behind me, I pulled the plastic baggie out of his hand and pulled his hand out of my bag. I then zipped my bag back up and held the zippers with my hand until we got on the bus. I'm quite proud of this interaction. For not being a local, I like to think grabbing his hand without even looking behind me gave him quite a fright.

From there I had my first micro bus experience. A white delivery van, like a "creeper van" is the size of a micro bus. Sometimes 32 people squeeze into one bus. Its only 15 rupees which is 16 cents USD, making it quite worth it, especially since it comes with quite the cultural experience.
After, my one housemate and I went to get passport photos of myself printed since I need them for the Kathmandu Post, and also to make an ID card to get into Durbar Square and other major locations for cheaper. After that we headed to other small shop to add money onto her phone's sim card which she is giving to me for free since unfortunately she leaves tomorrow morning.

We went home after that and met our three new housemates and hung out for dinner.

Even though I didn't shoot much it was still a really productive day!

A long day and some Benedryl

So many stories from today. The stories include a new girl showing up with Benedryl. After a week of itchy watery eyes, an itchy throat, and sneezing all curtesy of Tommy, Benedryl is the Holy Grail. On that note... good night. Many stories to come.

Home Sick Sundays

Even while I'm away at school in Athens, Sundays are just hard days. At school they mean homework and studying, here they mean the start to another week. The I've realized no matter where in the world I am on a Sunday the only place I'd really like to be is at my sweet home in Michigan with my mom, dad, sister, and puppy dogs. I often refer to my Sundays away as Home Sick Sunday, because without even thinking "oh today is Sunday" every Sunday away I wake up just longing for the olden days when I woke up there every Sunday. ...

And today I'm getting a roomate... so well ya know. As if the curtain I have as a door and the large windows didn't serve as lack of privacy enough. At least I'm taking one of the vacant rooms on Tuesday, I'm excited for that now!

No hablo Nepali

Today I got yelled at by a drunk man working on a rice plantation. The fun part? I had no idea. Benefit of not speaking Nepali right there, Ram was so sweet and said "oh this man right here doesn't want his photo taken, he is a little bit drunk." There is some beauty in not speaking the language and getting to play dumb. It is a bit awkward figuring out where to look when Ram has conversations with other people in Nepali and I know he is talking about me. Do you look at the person talking? Even though you can't understand them? Do stare at Ram waiting for the translation? Really who knows.

I was offered to sit and drink local beer with rice plantation owners today. I respectfully declined.

Cannabis grows everywhere here just out in the open. I was also offered to taste it yesterday, fresh picked. I respectfully declined.

I ate lunch in a tiki hut on stilts, coke and momos, I always respectfully accept momos.

Ram took me to another small wood carving village this afternoon. He took me in the shop of a small jewelry maker and wanted me to pick out a pair of hand crafted earrings. Everyday he compliments my earrings, today especially. I respectfully declined, he said "no, no it would be a gift." but I had money with me, I just didn't want to be a bother. The down side? I got home and looked up the conversion for how much the man was asking for them- how much you ask for beautifully hand made earrings? ... Less than 20 cents US. Oh well, lots of time left!

Ram told me that we have good chemistry today and that we would be friends. He said that if he doesn't have chemistry with someone he will not be their friend, I'm laughing by this point in the conversation. Quite frankly I laugh at almost every conversation. Nepalis remind me of the the boldness of Mexicans, and the accents and broken English are just the cherry on top. They fear nothing and say what they think, something we don't do back in the States. Later on he told me I am already like a little sister to him. He wants me to buy Nepali clothes so that I'll really fool people. He is just too much sometimes, its funny to me.

Life is pretty good. Lots of work to do though and its one of my housemates birthdays so we are all going out to dinner.

Nepali Chickens

We (Ram and I) were in another small extremely old town tonight. There were ducks and chickens and roosters just running around, as per usual in Nepal. I just had to ask though being the American I am: "Do the animals belong to someone?"
Ram: "Yes, to families."
Me: "But they just roam around the central area?"
Ram: "Yes."
Me: "And all the people in the town can tell which chicken is theirs?"

(Here is the fun part)

Ram: "Well the chickens actually know where their home is and which is their owner."
Me: "Of course they do."

*Cue getting on motorbike and driving to Durbar Square Pond to eat grilled corn and explain the economic situation of Detroit.*

Dhal Bhat

The day has come to give an entire post dedicated to dhal bhat. There really isn't much to say about it. Google what dhal bhat is for a more detailed explanation, but, in general it is plain white rice with some sort of a soupy mixture poured over top. The soupy stuff has some flavor but not much. It comes in a bunch of varieties, but here, you make a large batch and use it until it is gone. Dhal bhat is eaten twice a day everyday here. Without fail. It isn't bad, nor is it particularly good. After you've had it a week straight though... well you want to die a little inside.

Tonight at dinner two of my lovely Canadian housemates and I discussed Tim Hortons and Dunkin Donuts. Don't worry there is a Dunkin Donuts nearby... in Pakistan. So we joked deliriously about how we would get our visas and try to cross the Indian border into Pakistan and write on our customs forms "We came for Dunkin Donuts."

The day was long, but good. Nothing special nothing awful or fancy or too exciting or anything. Just life in Kathmandu as per usual. It is funny how the culture shock wares off without you realizing. I had a "pinch myself"moment on the motorcycle today of like holy crap you're in Nepal right now.

It is still scary and big and the bus system makes no sense, but, I will get there. For now getting lost is alright.

Garmi

The reality is: it is hot.

There is no way around the heat.

It is hot.

Water is all warm.

Thirst is real.

Heat is real.

Sweat is constant.

Sweat is real.

Garmi means hot weather in Nepali.

Welcome (Swagatam) to Kathmandu in June.

Momos and Laughter

Okay so wait... maybe todayyy was one of the best days of my life also...

I started my day with my Nepali language lesson... Nepali is weird, and hard, and confusing, but easy but weird. I have a few words I did learn though and it was really fun because I could pick them out of different conversations I heard today.

Piro is spicy
Masu is meat
Ek is one
... yep that is all I remember right now, but hey, I'm getting there.

More motorcycle riding with Ram (I upgraded to a helmet today), lots of walking and exploring with Sam, one of the Canadians living here right now, and I got to sit in on a photo lesson.

Some people come to this program just to learn the basics of photography, so I had nothing else to do while two students took their lesson today so Ram let me help teach it. I chimed in when I thought further explanation might help! It's always fun to go back to the basics.

I had some really long and wonderful chats with Ram today. We talked mostly about journalism and photography (an easy topic for the two of us) and I learned so much about the experiences he's had in his career and what he's learned from them. We talked about projects I'd like to work on while I'm here and he actually got me in contact with a really awesome organization already and we went there today so he could introduce me and explain for me in Nepali who I am and why I would be there. We talked a lot about another project I'm going to attempt and his experience with it as well.

We bumped into another important local photographer on our walk through this ancient village and so Ram was able to introduce me. We talked for a bit and I got his information too. It's so interesting to see the community of journalist here and how excited they are to assist us.

So, after biking and learning more about the situations in the area and the origins of a lot of the culture and stoping for photos, we stopped and had Momos and Masa for dinner. Today I tried my very first Momo. It is a day I will never forget. I will never forget the first Momo I ever ate not even after I eat ten zillion more. I love Momos. If you've never had a Momo I strongly encourage you to get off your butt, stop reading this blog immediately and go get yourself some Momos.

...

Good hunh?! (If you didn't eat a Momo yet and are continuing to read I want you to know that I'm disappointed.) Anyway-- I've been here just five days. In those five days I've been told about five or maybe six times how Nepali I seem. I've been told I look Nepali, I act Nepali in my body language, gestures, eye movement, and my personal favorite- my laughter. This leads me to the story of how I discovered Nepal is unique, Nepal is wonderful, and Nepal is happy.

Walking down the streets today with Sam it finally clicked with me what was so strange about this place. The streets are a mess, traffic is a mess, hell- the government is a mess, but I've yet to see one sad or angry Nepali. Yes, it's only been five days, but these people, they seem an odd type of resilient. It's not fancy jobs or homes or shoes or cars that makes them happy. It's visiting the temple in the evening, its sharing a cup of masa with a friend, its just life, the smell, the taste, the sound of life; these people are happy.

So, during my dinner with Ram we talked at first about photojournalism. Then we transitioned into talking about life. We talked about what it means to be happy and all of this crazy prophetic stuff that to him just made such sense and to me is just so foreign. It is a beautiful culture. It is beautiful because they smile. It is beautiful because they laugh. If it is my laughter that makes these people think I resemble their culture, I'm going to go ahead and say what a wonderful culture it is.

Motorcycle Diaries

I've been thinking all night long of how to put words to my day yesterday. The amount of things I saw yesterday for the first time in my life, in person was nearly endless. After I got back from my first motorcycle ride I ate lunch and then sat around reading for a bit. At 5:00 pm Ram my supervisor picked me up again and we headed out.

The point of the second trip was to head out of the city center so that he could show me where the Kathmandu Post building is located. After that we went to a zillion places, stopped on hillsides next to monasteries to watch the sunset over the valley. I saw Monks, monkeys, baby monkeys, goats, cows just chilling in the middle of the highway, Boudhanath Temple (we walked all around and inside buildings), children playing cricket, children playing soccer, children flying kites, prayer wheels, naked dirty children, polluted rivers, many police men, old women in beautiful clothing, I saw the world. But I heard something too--- on top of the massive hill, up next to a buddhist monastery there was a small building out of which bellowed Miley Cyrus's latest album Bangerz. Proving that this place is such a conglomeration of new and old... mostly old. It was a really awesome way to get to see the city, down the back roads and with a local; I just got to sit and soak it all up, trying to remember every detail on the way so I could return, by myself, with a camera.

Ram is already joking about teaching me to drive the motorcycle so he can sight see-- no worries mom and dad, I told him what an awful idea that would be.

I got home just in time for dinner of the forevermore lovely Dhal Bhat. We sat outside on the roof top where its a bit cooler (the kitchen is the top floor). Sitting outside at 7:30 pm is interesting here because Kathmandu has no street lights, so when the sun sets everything goes extremely extremely dark. And, for being in a capitol city its a unique sight to see.

I had a conversation with my host mom, Shila, about the mosquitos from back home after she apologized for them while we sat outside... you know all two of them that were around at the time. She was surprised to hear that we have many more back home.

There was just so much more that my eyes saw that I could explain. So many photograph in my mind that I hope will stay forever.

As a whole: Day Three was a hit.

UPDATE:

I have gone on my first motorcycle ride... I repeat I rode on the back of a motorcycle today and got a tour of town. I'm pretty sure I was in a movie. Not to be such a girl, and a 90s girl at that but- you know the scene from the Lizzie McGuire movie when she rides on the back of Paolo's motorcycle? That was me today. Except I'm not in high school, I'm not in Italy, and I was holding onto my internship program coordinator not a "famous pop star" boyfriend. I'm living the dream though really... Now I'd just like to meet people from the Post and take some photos!

Muskan and Tommy

Getting situated here where everything is so different can be quite the task. Especially when your sleep schedule is so messed up.

I've moved in with my host family and my first day was pretty relaxing. I was able to sleep for a bit, journal and read all after taking a tour of this huge house. I've already fallen in love with the small white fluffy dog named Tommy, he licks everything he can touch and coats the entire house in his white fur.

Muskan, my host sister is nine-years-old and it is quite clear that she's grown up in a home open to strangers coming and going. She is extremely not shy and had no problem coming right into my room yesterday and sitting on my bed bringing Tommy along with her of course. After a touch of confusion when she asked me in her broken, heavily accented, English if I was "free" I realized she was asking if I was busy or not, not whether or not I was enslaved. Those of you who really know me probably find the hysteria in my mind instantly going toward thoughts of slavery. (I'm involved in a lot of causes working to bring awareness to and ending Modern Day Slavery and Human Trafficking.) Anywho- She wasn't sure if I had to work or anything but once I realized her question I told her just how "free" I was. This response prompted an excited invitation to do a puzzle with her, either 100 piece Dora the Explorer or 60 piece Tom and Jerry. She insisted I choose. We ended up doing the Dora puzzle together which led to quite the humorous situation of every time I found a piece she would pat my head twice and say "good job"... over... and over... and over. She's a bossy little thing, hopefully it gets her somewhere in life.

I still think it'd be easy for me to get lost in this house so many ups and downs and curves and turns. I'm really looking forward to purchasing a cell phone and figuring the transportation out.

Today is supposed to be the first day of my internship so we will see how that all plays out. I'm concerned that culturally they don't fully understand a commitment. I'm pretty determined to get what I want here. I think I'm going to start looking into personal projects I can do here on my own time-- any suggestions???

Breakfast is soon and I'm sitting in my room which overlooks the front gate watching Muskan hop on the back of her father's motorcycle in her school uniform, back pack and all, off on her way to school.

I have high hopes that things keep getting better. I've yet to get sick so that's a plus... (don't worry I just knocked on some wood.)

Finally........

Well lets start with: I'm finally here!
I also finally got internet connection just now.
I am so beyond exhausted. I woke up at 4:30 this morning because I had gone to bed so early I couldn't possibly sleep any longer. Well now as my body's clock is super out of wack I'm just plain and simple: exhausted.

My first night I stayed at a hostel. I ate dinner and then crashed at 7:30 pm. I woke up in time for breakfast of crepes and chai. I met a bunch of people traveling also with IFRE, some not. They seemed to have gotten to travel a lot while they were here and had learned a lot about getting around, which seemed encouraging because this place is huge! Like massive. Like take Oaxaca and multiply it by at least ten. Or at least thats what it feels like.

Well I'll write a better more detail filled blog when I have more time and energy. For right now I have to go eat dinner and then I'm hoping sleep.